My great-grandmother, Olive Locke Weston McFarland, left a diary or "journal" as she called it, for the year she was married, 1855. It came into my hands, and I was so fascinated by the differences in lifestyle that I decided to write about my childhood so that my children and grandchildren might know what it was like to be brought up during Prohibition in a neighborhood where a gang was active.
This gang and others in the city were united under the Mafia chiefs and from this evolved the powerful Cosa Nostra. The profits from bootlegging gave them the financial base that enabled them to grow.
I also wanted my descendants to know what it felt like during the Depression when the whole country was without hope. Few people realize that, for almost ten years, the Depression affected almost every aspect of our lives.
This is not meant to be a literary effort. After I typed it I remembered many things which I should have included. There was no way that I could retype it, so I inserted the paragraphs with asterisks. (ed. note: The additions were incorporated into this manuscript.)
Please, try to be not too critical when you read this.
Evelyn M. Potyen
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